From the Beginning
by mooyoo
Summary: Really quick little piece on baby!Linc and baby!Michael thanks, halfshellvenus, for the title!


**Title:** From the Beginning  
**Fandom:** Prison Break  
**Characters:** Michael, Lincoln  
**Prompt:** 029: Birth.  
**Word Count:** 825  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** Really quick little piece on baby!Linc and baby!Michael

**Disclaimer:** Paul Scheuring and a whole lot of other people who aren't me own _Prison Break_.

Lincoln started crying the minute he was born and didn't seem to stop for three years. Nothing anyone did made any kind of difference andhis motheroften wondered why anyone in their right minds had children if they all screamed and cried like this. And then she'd see other children Lincoln's age who were calm and cute and happy and wondered what they were doing wrong and whether they were the worst parents in the world.

The only thing that seemed to calm him down was constant motion, so once they finally figured that out he almost never left his stroller. Even when just sitting in their apartment, she'd bundle him up, push him back and forth, and his cries would die out. He'd look up at her with wide, excited eyes, and she had trouble being angry at him, despite how exhausted she was. He didn't smile nearly as much as he cried, but when he did she caught a glimpse of herself in his tiny face.

She never expected to be that kind of mother, one who planned out her son's entire great, successful future when he was still just a baby. But she couldn't help looking at him sometimes and seeing all the great things he could do that she had once wanted for herself and was never able to achieve. She hadn't even wanted to have a child, never liked kids much before, and there were times when she thought having him was the cause of all of the problems with her husband. They both had wanted so many different things and it made her wonder what would have been different for them if she'd never gotten pregnant.

And then she'd look at Lincoln, happy and smiling up at her from his stroller, and she found it hard to stay bitter about how her life turned out. Maybe it wasn't so bad, she'd think, not to have a big house, lots of clothes, or a perfect job, especially if he could. She was happy when he smiled, and that was really what was most important to her. She wondered for a while about when she turned into this person, but ultimately decided it didn't really matter.

Michael took a full five minutes to start crying after he was born. He was so quiet when he came out that she was afraid there was something wrong with him. He simply lay in the doctor's arms and looked around, like he was taking in everything around him with wide eyes before he let himself start crying and screeching. After that he sounded worse than his brother, as if he knew what lay in store for him and didn't want any part of the world. She took him from the doctors and cooed and squeezed and stroked his head the way she had with Lincoln. She rocked him and he only screamed louder, and she was terrified that it would be another three years of nonstop crying, to be dealt with this time all by herself.

Lincoln came into the room a few hours after Michael was born and wrinkled his nose, taking an immediate dislike to his brother. She almost couldn't blame him with the fuss Michael was putting up, but she refrained from informing him that he was not much better behaved at three-hours-old than Michael.

She introduced the brothers to each other and Lincoln fixed her with a glare before turning his eyes downwards to inspect the screaming bundle in her arms, asking her why it wouldn't shut up. She told him that babies cry sometimes and he'd have to get used to it. Lincoln wrinkled his nose again and reached out a hand to cover Michael's mouth.

Michael grabbed onto one of Lincoln's fingers, wrapped his whole tiny fist around it, and just as suddenly as he'd started crying a few hours ago, he quieted and stilled, looking up at his brother with those same wide eyes as before. She watched as Lincoln tried to tug his hand away, but Michael only gripped his finger tighter and finally Lincoln relented with a half-smile and a roll of his eyes, sitting down next to the bed and laying his hand against his brother's chest.

She'd been worried about Lincoln for a while, worried that by five-years-old he'd already given up on his life. He was quiet and sullen after his father left and not at all happy to be getting a new brother, but as she watched them now, Lincoln shaking his head a bit with a small smile as Michael clutched his finger tightly to his tiny chest, she wasn't as worried. She'd been terrified the first time she found out she was pregnant, even more terrified the second time, and when her husband took off she was sure she'd break.

She watched Lincoln shake his brother's hand, watched Michael's tears dry as he looked at his brother, and she wasn't so worried about the two of them.

**-end-**


End file.
